That trail looks amazing! Looks pretty rough by the time you get to Bly - I imagine some knobbier gravelly tires might be good there, although I'd prefer a mountain bike tbh.

lotharsandwich wrote: Tue May 11, 2021 5:34 pm Everything I've read about Central/Southern Oregon cycling sounds great. One of many notions delayed by the pandemic was taking Amtrak with bike overnight from the San Jose to Klamath Falls and heading out on this trail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OC&E_Wood ... tate_Trail to get a taste of it. Someday!

Now I'm onto the idea of an endurance bike. Fuck, lightweight is cool, but comfortable as hell is way, way better. Not many available on the used market, though.

jeff fox wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 9:56 pm Now I'm onto the idea of an endurance bike. Fuck, lightweight is cool, but comfortable as hell is way, way better. Not many available on the used market, though.

This is pretty much what I've ridden ever since I've gotten more seriously into cycling. I've had a Specialized Roubaix, a Trek Emonda (with the more relaxed geometry), and now my Salsa Warbird (which is kind of like an endurance/gravel mash up). This is the world where people have been realizing that wider tires are not really slower for non-racers and a hell of a lot more comfortable. A lot of current model endurance bikes are coming with 32mm tires standard.

Feel free to look in L.A. for used bikes and I'd be happy to be an intermediary for shipping and whatnot.

Fuckin A!
There's a barely used Specialized Diverge with Shimano 105 for sale in my neighborhood- $2000. Not an amazing deal, but might be worth checking out.

I am looking to get rid of the 2 bikes I have now for something a little more practical. I have a specialized road bike that’s really not meant for commuting/city travel, and I have a triathlon bike that’s currently listed on craigslist. I actually went to the bike shop today just to get a feel for what hybrids are going for nowadays and what they had in the used department, and they had a couple of reasonable sales on Trek Hybrids in the $500-$600 range.

Opinions on this type of thing? When I do go back to the office later this summer, I cannot commute by bicycle, so this thing will be for exercise on days I don’t want to run, farting around when the kids want to ride and getting reasonably around town on small errands.

I should look up the models they recommended.

I got a Bianchi cortana a few years back and I've been liking it, though it's more of a cruiser bike and not that great for longer rides. The store where I got it had another Bianchi with the type of handlebars you can lean down on to rest your arms, but I took it for a test ride and it felt weird to ride, so I went with the cortana. Only been for one ride so far this year since I've been doing garden work on all the nicer days, but with the weather getting better I should be getting out more. I'm only a mile from the start of the north branch trail and 2 miles from the north channel trail, which makes it easy to go on long rides without having to cross many roads. We just got a new hitch attachment for our bike rack that fits our new car, so me and the missus can take our bikes out to some trails farther away from our place.

Goddamnit these gravel/endurance bikes are fucking expensive! Seems like they start out at $2000 for anything with good components.

Anyone watching the Giro D'Italia? There have been some excellent stages this year. The sprint today was crazy. the dirt road/Strade Bianchi stage on Sunday was also fantastic. What a great race this year.

Work and a general incomprehension around how sport on TV works anymore means I miss cycling; I should try harder. Friends who hero-worship Fausto Coppi have led me to this video of him smashing his rivals, including the truly great Gino Bartali, on the 17th stage of the 1949 Giro d'Italia. The road surface, the gearing, and the agonising cadence are striking. Someone once let me ride a Bianchi of that vintage, and while it was a beautiful, smooth ride on tarmac, it was heavy as fuck. Gear ratios to make Hercules rub his knee.

Frankie99 wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 10:18 pm I am looking to get rid of the 2 bikes I have now for something a little more practical. I have a specialized road bike that’s really not meant for commuting/city travel, and I have a triathlon bike that’s currently listed on craigslist. I actually went to the bike shop today just to get a feel for what hybrids are going for nowadays and what they had in the used department, and they had a couple of reasonable sales on Trek Hybrids in the $500-$600 range.

Opinions on this type of thing? When I do go back to the office later this summer, I cannot commute by bicycle, so this thing will be for exercise on days I don’t want to run, farting around when the kids want to ride and getting reasonably around town on small errands.

I should look up the models they recommended.

If you have enough wheel clearance on your specialized, you could add wider tires and a rack, and change up the bar position to make it more practical, and end up with a better bike for less money than trying to buy in that price range. If it's got narrow clearance and only fits tiny brakes this may not be an option.

If buying used, I'd buy a steel frame for reliability, and pay most attention to the quality of the rear derailleur, tires and the fit - especially avoiding a fork that was cut too low - over everything else including brand. cheap brakes and wheels still work fine, but a bad rear derailleur will drive you batty and cheap tires will go flat in the city.